Trivett Hicks Estate Agents

Kelly Webster

10 Jun, 2023

Ross on Wye, Herefordshire

Trivett Hicks offered us a rogue landlord experience. Without our savings, we would have been literally left out in the cold.

They knowingly placed us in a property which had none of the legally required certificates. We never saw any until about a month before moving out & only after we contacted the authorities.

Environmental Health deemed the building “unfit for human habitation”.

The landlord stated our cottage was expected to be given an EPC rating of G, as the next door received the same rating & was identical.

Trivett Hicks & the landlord were aware of the legal requirement more than 1 year prior to us moving in & it was condemned previously, but then reconnected?!?

The landlord also knew that it would cost the earth to run, as it was a holiday home for a short while and she paid the bills.

The extra move & fuel bills crippled us financially.

Example: Our energy bills spanning 3 months were equal to a years worth of fuel bills, for a family of 4.

*We are just 2 people and we were charged just over £1400 for gas alone in 3 months.

An EPC was never carried out on our property & no electrical certificate was produced until we involved the authorities.

This meant that the upstairs lighting was never earthed and we could have been electrocuted by simply changing a light bulb.

It was now March 2021 and 0 degrees. We were without heating or proper hot running water because they disconnected the illegal 50-year-old system fitted in 1972 which finally broke when the pipework flooded our living room.

Trivett Hicks showed no remorse whatsoever. Not even when I told them my partner's doctor had raised her concerns as he had suspected Angina.

They deliberately avoided important questions and lied through their teeth constantly.

All evidenced through emails I made it clear I was growing more concerned about my partners poor health because of the dire situation we were placed in.

The Company director at Trivett Hicks replied,

“I don’t have time to read your email in full, and ..

“Your email traffic is difficult for us to keep up with”.

Just 16 weeks after moving in, we were out of pocket and now we were being told as unwell as my partner was we were effectively being forced into a ‘revenge eviction’.

We were also threatened by the landlord on the doorstep during a surprise visit with eviction, and received a visit from her son-in-law, who failed intimidate to my partner.

Throughout the whole time, no one at Trivett Hicks gave a thought to us - in fact they treated us just as though we were more of a nuisance.

Once we found a new home (puppy’s 3rd in 7 months) & they confirmed with the landlord that she was happy with how we handed back the house - The director informed me that they wanted to keep my deposit until I could prove that I’d paid all my bills in full!

Just 5 weeks earlier the house attached to ours (& now our friends) which was owned by the same landlord & managed by Trivett Hicks was given their deposit back without a hint of a fuss.

As if they had not handled our situation badly enough, they contacted my manager via email and phoned him too stating that my employer may be liable for any outstanding bills I didn’t pay. I was upset with this as there was no need for this kind of behaviour.

My rent has NEVER been late & I don’t pay bills late.

* When they condemned/disconnected for the gas 2nd time, we informed them that we had filled the LPG tank amounting to £500+. Both the landlord & THs suggested it wasn’t their problem.

Also, our electric bill significantly increased as we were forced to purchase electric fires due to the insulation being non-existent in the building (plasterboard against brickwork).

It was a pig farm and the building was aptly called Barn House.

Incidentally, Trivett Hicks did all this to us for just £200 a month!